Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Targeting Unborn Girls OK with Planned Parenthood

After undercover sting videos exposed callous Planned Parenthood counselors advising pregnant women how to kill their baby girls in favor of baby boys, this nation's largest abortion mill issued a statement that indeed they will NOT dissuade sex-selection abortions (except in the four states that have outlawed such gendercide) -- thus providing services they consider “high quality, confidential, nonjudgmental care to all who come into” their facility.

Meanwhile, Congress will now consider H.R. 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA), to fight against the abortionists' war on women -- a bill that is strongly opposed by pro-abortion organizations.

Live Action, which describes itself on its website as "a youth led movement dedicated to building a culture of life and ending abortion," said the video is the first in a series dubbed "Gendercide: Sex-Selection in America," which activists said is dedicated to exposing how abortion clinics across the country facilitate sex-selective abortion. The group sent actresses posing as patients to clinics across the country as part of what it called a national investigation.

Planned Parenthood said the activists are engaged in an ongoing hoax campaign that is promoting false claims about the group. The staff member seen in the footage had been in the entry-level position for about six months, did not follow protocol and was fired within days of the interaction on April 11, said Sarah Wheat, interim co-CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capital Region. All staff members at the clinic on East Ben White Boulevard were "immediately scheduled for retraining in managing unusual patient encounters."

[Planned Parenthood] said in a statement ". . . [we] do not believe that curtailing access to abortion services is a legitimate means of addressing sex selection . . ."

The staffer answers all of the [Live Action] woman’s questions honestly and makes it clear that Planned Parenthood will not deny the woman an abortion despite her reasons for wanting to have one. At the end, she directs the woman to an ob-gyn for an ultrasound and says, "Good luck, and I hope you do get your boy."

Live Action interprets this exchange as Planned Parenthood's “encouraging” the woman to have a late-term sex-selective abortion. “Planned Parenthood and their ruthless abortion-first mentality is the real ‘war on women,'” said Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, in a statement. “Sex-selective abortion is gender discrimination with lethal consequences for little girls.”

Sex-selective abortions are the latest target of anti-abortion activists whose goal is to make abortions illegal across the United States. Lawmakers at the state and federal level have also latched onto the issue by introducing legislation that criminalizes doctors who perform abortions because of the race or gender of the fetus. Opponents of such laws say they force doctors into the inappropriate position of investigating a woman's personal motivations for seeking an abortion. The House of Representatives will debate Rep. Trent Franks’ (R-Ariz.) Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act on Wednesday, which would ban sex-selective abortions in the United States.

Republicans are trying to claim victory in the public relations war for women this week, holding a vote [today or] Thursday on a bill that prohibits women from getting abortions based on the sex of the fetus.

Unlike other abortion votes in the House, this bill is heading to the floor under suspension of the rules. It’s a procedural maneuver typically reserved for less-controversial bills and requiring two-thirds of House members present and voting to pass. Somewhere around 287 members will have to vote “aye” in order for the bill to pass (depending how many members show up), meaning approximately 45 Democrats will have to sign on with Republicans. In other words, it’s a higher bar to passing the bill.

Abortion rights groups are opposing the legislation, but a bit more quietly than on other abortion votes. A fact sheet from the National Women’s Law Center says it strongly opposes the legislation, calling it an “unconstitutional burden on a fundamental right.” A bloc of Democratic women is also speaking out in opposition. “House Republicans will hit a new low tomorrow when they bring up for a vote legislation that severely interferes with the doctor-patient relationship, criminalizing doctor’s conversations with the women they care for, while forcing women to endure interrogations regarding their medical care,” Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., said in an e-mail.

Conservatives are seizing on the high-profile story of Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese activist who recently arrived in the United States, hoping that the spotlight on his human-rights work will bolster their efforts to curb abortions domestically and in China.

Anti-abortion groups, including National Right to Life and the Susan B. Anthony List, are highlighting Chen's work exposing forced abortions and sterilizations in China in hopes it will help them in passing U.S. legislation banning abortions performed because of a child's gender. Chen's plight also has led congressional Republicans to plan hearings this summer on the one-child policy.